Earth, Wind, and Fire never won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Neither did Kool and the Gang, or Chic, or the Trammps. Instead, during the height of the disco era, the Academy was busy showering golden gramophones on The Eagles and Captain and Tennille. So for every music that ever laid down a groove in the '70s, stretched out, and danced under the mirror ball, here's some extremely belated validation from an industry that has always hesitated to recognize dance music. "Get Lucky," the funky throwback smash by French electropop act Daft Punk, took the Record prize at tonight's show.

"Get Lucky," which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Charts in summer 2013, has sold over three million copies in America alone. The dance-pop cut was the lead single from "Random Access Memories," Daft Punk's fourth set, and a candidate for Album of the Year. "Get Lucky" was the year's top single in Daft Punk's native France.

The record features a guitar performance by Chic bandleader Nile Rodgers, who adds his distinctive scratchy funk chords to the mix. Pharrell Williams, one-half of hip-hop production team the Neptunes, sings about a night spent on the prowl. The two members of Daft Punk contribute some of their now-patented (and always fun) talkbox vocals to the bridge. But the record wouldn't have worked without its propulsive pocket, which was provided by drummer Omar Hakim and bassist Nathan East.

Although Williams and Rodgers are both accomplished producers, the two members of Daft Punk chose to produce "Get Lucky" themselves. Masked men Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Miguel de Homem-Christo have been making influential dance music together since the 1990s — first with synthesizers and drum machines, and, lately, with organic instruments played by virtuosos. "Random Access Memories" is a response to the growing stadium-sized beast that dance music has lately become, and an attempt to bring it back to a human scale.

"Get Lucky" topped Imagine Dragons' electro-rock "Radioactive," Lorde's generational statement "Royals," Bruno Mars' propulsive "Locked Out of Heaven," and Robin Thicke's salacious, controversial "Blurred Lines." At the 2013 Grammys, the Record of the Year went to "Somebody That I Used to Know," the collaboration between experimental singer, percussionist and producer Gotye and New Zealand jazz-pop artist Kimbra.

Record of the Year and Song of the Year are often confused. The Song award is annually given to the Academy's pick for the best composition. The Record gramophone recognizes the quality of the recorded artifact. It's not too misleading to say that the Song award is for writers, and the Record award is for performers and producers.